Boys and their redheads
by spoodle monkey
Summary: It was strange, Bruce had been so cheerful lately...there had to be something up. FLASHBATMAN NIGHTWINGARSENAL SLASH


Disclaimer: Well i obviously don't own or Justice League would be soooo different...errr, sort of at least.

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"I think something's up with Bruce." He can see Wally turn and shoot him a confused look out of the corner of his eye, but he just keeps staring ahead, gaze trained on the darkened streets below. He hadn't planned on any company while on patrol, but when his friend had shown up, the chance to talk had been too good to miss.

"There's always something up with Bats." The red head seems to realize that he is serious, the joke falling flat.

"He's been acting…different." Dick admits slowly, wondering if the Flash is really the person to be talking to about this. The Flash who works with Batman and is constantly looking for new ways to annoy the older man; but Wally just sits next to him on his perch, silently waiting for him to continue.

"He's not brooding as much." There's a snort of laughter from next to him and for a moment Dick wonders if perhaps Wally does know something, but he dismisses the thought just as quickly.

"And that's a sign for the apocalypse?"

"This morning he complimented Bab's on her hair cut and didn't even try to kick Roy out when he caught us…well, you know." He trailed off, blush staining his cheeks at the inadvertent confession.

"You're right," The red heads face is set in a troubled frown, but he wasn't trained by the world's greatest detective for nothing, he knows it's all an act. "it must be a clone, or maybe a robot that the real Bruce is working on and he's actually testing it out on us!"

Wally dodges when he reaches out to smack the back of his head, so it takes a moment for him to notice the slip-up. Since when did Wally call Batman, Bruce?

"You know what the other possibility is, don't you?" And here he had thought that the clone idea was a fairly plausible occurrence- at least in their line of work. "Maybe all those nights he's out, he's not alone."

It takes a moment for what Wally said to sink in and when it does, he immediately regrets bringing the topic up to the speedster. Bruce and sex? He refused to use it in a sentence unless the words 'not' and 'having' were in between. The red head grinned at him, completely aware of how traumatic the conversation had become.

"Bruce? The chances of him getting together with someone are slim to none- I mean, aside from Wonder Woman, but that's stretching it." Dick vaguely notices Wally bristling next to him as he says this, but isn't quite sure what to make of it.

"It's not Diana."

"Oh? And how do you know? First hand knowledge?" Wally's gone by the time he finishes his sentence, no trace of him ever being there at all, and it makes him wonder what made the speedster run off and yet part of him is piecing together an idea.

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As per usual, Batman spends most of his time on the Watchtower, so when he does return to the manor, it's late at night, and luckily (or unluckily) it coincides with Dick's visit, so he jumps at the chance to find out what's wrong with Bats.

He never was a heavy sleeper, so when he actually manages to hear the older man's footsteps in the hallway, he knows there's something up. Creeping from his bed and to the door with a grace brought on from years of training, he pulls open the door slightly, just in time to see someone that is not Bruce disappear around the corner.

Every part of him is wide-awake now, on alert- curiosity taking over as he makes his way quietly down the hall. The only light comes from the room furthest away from him, which is quickly flicked off, making way for noises he can not yet identify as he moves closer to his target.

Shadows cloak him as he pauses just next to the door, heart beating loudly in his ears that he knows that if Batman were to concentrate, he would hear and Dick would be discovered. So he prays that Batman is too distracted to notice.

Normally he would never spy on a friend like this- but Bruce has been acting…odd, and this is the only way to solve the mystery. Quiet voices travel through the door, one he recognizes as the deep voice of the dark haired man, but the other- the other he recognizes as well.

He can't place it just yet, but his mind is searching for the answer, when a name appears in his mind. It couldn't be- why would Bruce…The thought trails off, as he listens more intently to the conversation that he really shouldn't be listening to.

Snippets of the two talking about a previous mission, and Alfred and Dick himself, with his suspicions about Bruce being involved with someone filter through to him and it sounds so domestic and so…natural that he wonders exactly how long this relationship had been going on.

But if he thinks about it, so many things make sense now and while part of him is shocked, a larger part of him is happy that the two orphans- the two men found each other. In truth, he's never seen Bruce happier, which makes him happy for both of them. But he's never going to stop teasing them about it.

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The next morning, when he's already on his third cup of coffee and Roy strolls in with a wave and a wink, slinging his arm around Dicks waist and joking away with Alfred is when he wonders how long it'll take the others to discover just why Bruce has been so…chipper lately.

His question is answered when the coffee mug disappears from his hand and Bab's plate has one less piece of toast on it. Dick just sighs dramatically, stealing what's left of Roy's coffee, while Bab's glances around wildly as though there is some conspiracy against her breakfast. Which is why it takes the rest of the room an extra minute to notice that latest person sitting at the table.

"What? When'd you get here?" Roy gapes at the newest member, who just sits there calmly, concealing his grin by taking a large sip of what was once Dick's coffee.

"Hmm? What was that Arsey?" Roy scowls at the nickname, but there's no real venom there, instead, focusing on stealing his coffee back from Dick.

"Good morning." Bab's is close to falling out of her chair by the time that Bruce walks in, sliding into the seat next to Wally, calmly filling two plates with food and handing one to the red head next to him.

The older man's attention appears to be focused on the speedster, but Dick knows better; he's judging their reactions, waiting for them to figure it out. Waiting to find out if they were okay with it. Which was strange, because the others were fine with him and Roy, but Bruce worked on a different level than them all.

"On the bright side he's guaranteed to be less broody than normal with Wally hanging around all the time." Dick's stage whisper is met by a muffin to the head, that's so unexpected he doesn't have time to dodge- but really, he never in his wildest dreams would have thought that Bruce would ever actually loosen up enough to start a food fight.

But the cause of Bruce's strange happiness is currently sitting across from him doing his best to shove egg into the dark hair and their family may be strange, and shouldn't work, but it does. And it's a miracle in their screwed up lives that for once they're all happy.

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Read and review please! 


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